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AI Listens for Crop Pests + Ohio’s Wild Pumpkin Roll | Daily Farm Brief · Farm Tales Unplugged - Daily Farm Brief

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, Farm Nation, and Hello Truck City.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is FarmTales Unplugged Daily Farm Brief for Tuesday, October 27th.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Portanova.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Give us a few minutes every day for farm news, egg technology, family farm stories, the old farmer's almanac, and we close with the markets.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Today, turning dairy manure into fertilizer, a mistake in the corn numbers farmers rely on, and a device that could catch a hidden pest by listening to it eat.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, an Ohio town where students go sledding on smashed-up pumpkins and how snow helps protect a winter crop.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: So grab your coffee, fire up whatever you're driving, and let's find out what was happening while you were busy actually working.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Farm news story number one.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Could dairy manure become another source of the fertilizer you buy?
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Two proposed plants in Kansas and Indiana would turn it into liquid fertilizer.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: They're part of eight manufacturing projects USDA selected last Thursday for about$573 million in proposed funding.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Including other investment, the plans total more than$1.3 billion.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: For farmers, the part to watch is what actually gets built.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Most domestic production could mean more supply and more competition for your fertilizer business.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But a funding announcement doesn't put fertilizer in a dealer's tank.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: These projects still have to become operating plants.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: There is a possible improvement in the future supply, not a promise cut in your next fertilizer bill.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And if this kind of farm news helps you, would you give us a follow, a like, or a share?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Story number two.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: When you're deciding whether to sell corn or store it, you want those crop numbers to be right.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: USDA now says some of September's were not.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: The mistake came from how irrigated and dry land field data was combined in Kansas and Nebraska.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: It also affected the National September estimate.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the part to keep straight.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: USDA says it checked October's numbers and those remain unchanged.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a correction to an earlier report, not a new change to October's crop forecast.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why does that matter?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Those estimates help sellers judge how much corn will be available.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: They're part of the information behind grain marketing decisions.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: The National Corn Growers Association wants stronger checks before publication.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: USDA says it will add checks to catch this kind of mistake.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And now your high-tech moment.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: A bug can hide inside a soybean stem, but it may have trouble hiding the sound of its next meal.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Researchers are testing a device called the insect eavesdropper.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Think of a tiny microphone attached to a plant.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: It picks up faint vibrations from insects feeding and moving, activity our ears normally miss.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Emily Bick at the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed the device.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: A Kansas State team is testing it against pests that tunnel inside soybean stems.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Normally, finding these insects can mean cutting the plant open.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: With this system, researchers record the vibrations, then inspect the plants to check what was actually there.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're using artificial intelligence to help recognize the patterns.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's still being tested.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is an earlier warning that tells farmers where to take a closer look.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: You'd still scout the field, but you'd know something is eating your crop before the damage becomes obvious.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine a town where you don't need snow to go sledding.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: You need a hill and hundreds of smashed pumpkins.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's the pumpkin roll in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: For nearly 60 years, students have turned Grove Hill into a slippery orange slide.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Pumpkins tumble down the street, split open, and leave a layer of pulp.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Then students ride down on sleds, even upside-down folding tables.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: The local alumni association traces it to 1967, when students from the class of 69 set out to collect 69 pumpkins.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: The prank became a tradition passed from one class to the next.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Students keep the date secret and stash pumpkins ahead of time.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: They don't necessarily wait until after Halloween.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Reporting describes pumpkins disappearing from porches throughout October.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Police have had their hands full with it, but they've also blocked traffic so the rolling and sliding can take place.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Local news reports students raise money for fines and cleanup.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Nearly 60 years later, a school prank still brings people out to watch pumpkins become a sledding hill.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Snow can protect your winter wheat and help a rabbit reach higher up on your fruit trees.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: From the old farmer's almanac, here's what to watch.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: A wire mesh guard helps, but remember, snow gives rabbits a boost.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: A guard that worked in October may be too short above a January snow drift.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Keep the bottom secure, leave room around the trunk, and check again after heavy snow.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now here's the other side of that snowbank.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: It can actually help keep a crop warmer.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: The almanac explains that snow traps air, creating insulation between the soil and the bitter cold above it.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: For winter wheat, that can help protect the growing point near the soil surface.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: University of Minnesota Extension says about three inches of snow provides useful protection through most Minnesota winters.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And those stalks left standing after harvest, they can catch snow before the wind carries it away.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: When that snow melts, it can also help replenish soil moisture.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: So a snow-covered field isn't necessarily taking a beating.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Underneath that winter crop may be better protected than the one on bare ground.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your market watch.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Here's Monday's market snapshot with delayed quotes checked around 11.25 a.m.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Pacific.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Local cash bids will differ.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: December corn, 455 per bushel, down one cent.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: January soybeans, 1252 and a half per bushel, down 16 cents.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: December Chicago wheat, 615 and three quarters per bushel, down 9.25.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: December live cattle, 231.20 per 100 pounds, up about 8 cents.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: January feeder cattle, 346 per 100 pounds, up 65 cents.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And November Class 3 milk was trading at 1795 per 100 pounds.com.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: And there you have it.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's your FarmTales Unplugged daily farm brief for Tuesday, October 27th.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Brought to you by World TradeX, empowering farmers.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: The future of food starts with the people who grow it and depends on the people who move it.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rick Cortanova, and I'll see you Wednesday morning.